Ukiyo-e and Art Nouveau

Ukiyo-e artists quickly embraced the woodblock print. Japanese were collaberated between the publisher, the artist, the block cutter, and the printer. The publisher financed and directed the work. The artist supplied a separate drawing for each color, which were glued onto the woodblocks, with the white areas cut away, destroying the original artwork. Once all the blocks were cut, they would move onto the printing process using water-based ink.

Okumura Masanobu was one of the first artists to move from hand-coloring single-color woodcuts to two-color. He experimented with embossing, unusual inks, and the application of gold and silver dust sprinkled like glitter over a mixture of ink and glue. He mainly portrayed beautiful women, which landed Utamaro in jail for three days in 1804 f

Art Nouveau designers and illustrators attempted to make art a part of everyday life. The transition from Victorian graphics to the Art Nouveau style was gradual but effective. Jules Cheret and Eugene Grasset, two graphic artists working in Paris, played an important role in this transition. In 1881 a new law in France was passed concerning the freedom of press, which lifted many censorship restriction, allowing posters to be hung anywhere with the exception of churches, poles, and other areas that were designated. This New law led to a booming poster industry of designers, and printers. The streets became plagued with posters, turning the streets into art galleries. During the 1870's Cheret steered away from the Victorian styles, simplifying his own designs. In 1881 he sold his printing company to a larger printing firm, and then became it’s artistic director, allowing more time for his art and designs.

The English art historian, Herbert Read, once suggested that life of any art movement is like that of a flower - a budding in the hands of a small number of innovators is followed by full bloom, then the process of decay begins as the influence becomes defused and distorted in the hands of imitators who understand merely the stylistic manifestations of the movement, rather than the driving passions that forged it.

A new German magazine, Jugend, began publication at Munich in 1896 from where it spread to Berlin, Darmstadt, and all over Germany. German Art Nouveau was strongly influenced by the styles of France and Britain, but still remained traditional. Jugend’s first year’s circulation climbed to 30,000 copies per week, then soon 200,000 copies per week. Ornaments of Art Nouveau were on v

Some topics in this essay:
Art Nouveau, Eugene Grasset, Ukiyo-e Ukiyo-e, Okumura Masanobu, Reed American, Herbert Read, Arc Mucha, Civil War, France Britain, Count Troulouse, art nouveau, printing company, nouveau art nouveau, graphic design, eugene grasset, art movement, nouveau art, copies week,